Adjustable crank



Jul y 20, 1948. A. Y. DODGE ADJUSTABLE CRANK Filed Feb. 14, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 20, 1948. A. Y. DODGE 2,445,710

ADJUSTABLE CRANK Filed Feb. 14, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v F X Q Patented July 20, 1948 254453 10 7 .AnJnsrABLEicnaNK naierv. mags, Rockford, 111. 1 l-Anplieationfebruary 14, 19,44,- Serial:No.::5:22;2;21

'5'Glaims.

This invention relates vto "mechanical torq transmission and .more particularly .to :an impulse typetransmissionjfor driving ,adriven shaft through aseries-of torqueimpulses.

Qne of the .objects of ,theginventionlis to prol vide a mechanical torque transmission which .is

adjustable toprovidearrinfinitenumber of torgue ratios.

Another object of the inventionjisto provide .a mechanical torque transmission of vthe impulse type which is {dynamically balanced.

Still another object of the invention'istopro- Vide a mechanical torque transmission in which thedriven. shaft receives allargelnumberrof torque impulses during each revolution.

A further object of the invention .is to provide a mechanical toriquegtransmission which. isl-small, compact and easilycontrolledzand which operates. at .high efiiciency.

The .above and other objects :of the invention will be .mor-ereadih apparent from the iollowing description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which- JFigure 1 -.is.a .plan view ofia driving unit lembodying the invention;

v.F'igure2 isran enlarged section sofa part of the driving unit of Fi ure 1 .E-igures i3 and fare partial :sectionsen ether-line 3-3 and A e :respectively of :Eigure 12,; land Figurefi is apartial view similar to Figure 4 of an alternative construction.

The unit ofJFigure'iliisraniintegral motor unit including a motor to one end of whicha housing H is secured. The housing rotatably carries a driving shaft I2 which may bethemotor armature shaft'lorlaniextensionithereof :and a driven shaft l3 which is parallel to but displaced ,from thedriving shaft. The housingisiormedaltound thevdriving shaft with a,,fixed eccentric {M on which -asecond eccentric l5 isro,tatab1y-Vm0unted. Preferably, (the two ecceritricsihave theisame-degree of eccentricity so that vthey .can bea'djllsted to -.a position as showninligured in which the outer surface of the eccentric T5 is concentric with the axis of the-driving s'haft l z. By adjusting the'eccentric l5 angularly about the eccentrio IA its degree of eccentricity :can be varied to :control the transmission [as will be explained later. Preferably, the adjustment is effected by forming the eccentric l5 with a worm gear 16 meshing with a, worm on a shaft H which projects through the housing and carries a hand wheel I8.

The driving shaft I2 carries within the housing v v '2 atonelside 'ofzthe shaft aximadriiling .erankll. The icrank is pivoted to the cross :member at .22 and extends inwardly toward the "axis cof the driving shaft where-it terminates in re. zcra'nk spin The-crank 2| is preferably of suchza length thatthercrank pin willbe coaxial-with the driving shaft -,in :one position of :the crank. iI'he bran-k is also ifnrmed with an :arm 22:4 ,rigid therewith iand pivoted at thru a link :30 to aring-Zt which is zrotatable lon the eccentric A5. 7 c

Aeseeond crank ,2-1 is pivotedsatt28itoithe-cross member :at :a :point diametrically :ODDOSite :to -;the axis 22 of the first crank. The crank 21 is formed with .a ;counter-balance weight -Z'la extending to- :wardthe'axis of the drivingxsharityand' underlying ithecrankzz'l. .aAn 311711329 rigid withrthe erankfl-l dszpivoted'thru a link :31itothemingfifi,:th eilinksi3fl .and;3il being pivoted -,to the aring 2,6 .pn a'a icommon axis. 7 i

i :As the driving :shaftmotatea-the ring-2.5 will be ztu-rn'ed-with 2113' by; a link 132 which is :QOHHQQtQd to :disc =jZB:at;:32a;and to the ring. 'flhissmoveszone of the armseout :at .the same time and .thenther arm mcvesain. gDuepto-zthel'manner pfconnection this will cause the counter :weight .and-zcrank rpin zto move in opposite directions soithatraisatisfactpry dynamic :balance :is obtained.

.Theidr'iven shaft its tenninatesiinzthe housin Lina cupor sleevermember 33. 'frhezsleevermemher is zconnected through -.a 'rpair pf zone --way rclutches 34 :With {driving :members 35 and :36 "which care :ooaxial wwith rthe driven shaft. The driving :member :35 :iSffOI'IIlSddWj-th azshaft extension 3. 1 [011 -.which the imember :is 1rotata-b1y rmoun-ted'. if'lihe shaft :31 ;carries :an varm .38 as shownlsin .Figure 3 and the-driving member 35 is :formed --with a similar :arm 39 extending in :the opposite direction from the arm 38. illhefaims es :and 39 :are connected 1301171716 :crank pin :33 by ;c.onnecting -rods 4H and "respectively.

. ;In icnneration with :the eccentric J5 adjusted to be geccentric to the driving shaft, the crank pin nwill 'describe circles tat r-a rate twice the rate of :revolution of the driving-shaft. This isrdueito'the :fact that the circle described by the crank pivot 22 crosses or parallels the eccentric; circle at two diametrically ;opposite points {5,0 that the crank 'WillrClOSS the aaxisof ,thedriving sshaft twice during leach revolution; :Stated another way, ithe crank is caused to describe one circle due to revolution of the driving shaft and another circle due to the action of the eccentric thereon. As seen in Figure 3 when the crank pin moves up the arms 38 and 39 will be moved up to turn the driving a cross member or disc l9 which rotatably carries 55 member 35 clockwise and the driving member 36 counter-clockwise. If the driven shaft is to be driven clockwise the one way clutch 34 connected to the driving member 35 will engage and the driving member 35 will impart a torque impulse to the driven shaft. At this time the other oneway clutch overruns. Upon a reversal of movement with the crank pin moving downwardly, the driving member 36 will be turned clockwise and will drive the driven shaft through its one-way clutch 34. Thus for each revolution of the crank pin the driven shaft will receive two impulses and since the crank pin revolves at twice the speed of the driving shaft, the driven shaft will receive four impulses for each revolution of the driving shaft. By adjusting the eccentric IS the amount of travel of the crank pin can be adjusted to vary the rate of revolution of the driven shaft through an infinite number of steps. v

Figure 5 shows an alternative construction for connecting the cranks to the eccentric ring parts therein corresponding to like parts in Figures 1 to ibeing designated by the same reference numerals plus 100. In this construction, the eccentric ring I26 is in the form of a two-part ring, one part of which is provided with a circumferential groove 200. Blocks 201 are slidable in the groove and may be held in place by forming the groove and blocks with interfitting slots and projections. The blocks are pivoted at I25 to the crank arms indicated by the dotted lines I24 and I29 respectively whose pivot points to the fixed cross member on the driving shaft are indicated by I22 and I28.

In the operation of this construction the blocks 20l may slide in the slot 200 as the eccentric ring moves to swing the cranks oppositely. Aside from the difference in connection between the crank arms and eccentric ring this construction operates the same as that of Figures 1 to 4.

While two embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail herein, it will be understood that they are illustrative only and are not intended as a definition of the scope of the invention, reference being had for this purpose to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a mechanical torque transmission for connecting a driving shaft to a driven shaft, a cross member adapted to be carried by the driving shaft, an eccentric adjacent the cross member, a bell crank pivoted in the cross member, means operatively connecting one end of the bell crank to the eccentric, a crank pin at the other end of the bell crank, a weight pivoted on the cross member, and means operatively connecting the weight to the eccentric to move the weight in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of the crank pin.

2. In a mechanical torque transmission for conmeeting a driving shaft to a driven shaft, a cross member adapted to be carried by the driving shaft, an eccentric adjacent the cross member, a bell crank pivoted in the cross member, means operatively connecting one end of the crank to the eccentric, a crank pin at the other end of the bell crank, a second bell crank pivoted in the cross member and operatively connected at one end to the eccentric, and a weight on the other end of the second bell crank to be moved by .4 the eccentric in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of the crank pin.

3. In a mechanical torque transmission for connecting a driving shaft to a driven shaft, a cross member adapted to be carried by the driving shaft, an eccentric adjacent the cross member, a bell crank pivoted in the cross member, means including a link operatively connecting one end of the bell crank to the eccentric, a crank pin at the other end of the bell crank, a second bell crank pivoted in the cross member at a point diametrically opposite to the first bell crank, a link operatively connecting the second bell crank to the eccentric at the same point at which the first named link is connected to the eccentric, and a weight on the other end of the second bell crank extending toward the first bell crank so that theweight and crank pin will move in opposite directions as the driving shaft turns rela tive to the eccentric.

4. In a mechanical torque transmission for connecting a driving shaft to a driven shaft, a cross member on the driving shaft, an eccentric adjacent the cross member, a ring rotatable on the eccentric having a circumferential groove therein, a'block slidable in the groove, a bell crank pivoted in the cross member having a crank pin lying adjacent the driving shaft axis in one position of the crank, an arm on the bell crank pivoted to the block, and means connecting the ring to the driving shaft to turn the ring on the eccentric. W 1

5. In a mechanical-torque transmission for connecting a driving shaft to a driven shaft, a cross member on the driving shaft, an eccentric adjacent the cross member, a ring rotatable on the eccentric having a circumferential groove therein, a block slidable in the groove, a bell crank pivoted in the cross member'having a crank pin lying adjacent the driving shaft axis in one position of the crank, an arm on the bell crank pivoted to the block, means connecting the ring to the driving shaft to turn'the ring on the eccentric, a second bell crank pivoted in the cross member diametrically opposite to the first bell crank having a weight lying adjacent the driving shaft axis in one bell crank position, an arm on the second crank, and a secondblock slidable in the groove pivoted to the last named arm.

ADIEL Y. DODGE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 27,057 Lazelle Feb. 7, 1860' 291,645 Thurston Jan. 8, 1884 462,299 Bullock Nov. 3, 1891 2,036,624 Garratt Apr. 7, 1936 2,036,625 Garratt Apr. 7, 1936 2,209,417 Obermoser July 30, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number -i Country Date 210,961 Great Britain Feb. 14, 1924 493 Australia Feb. 2, 1931 

